Mike Wieringo

Michael Lance Wieringo — known to readers and colleagues simply as "Ringo" — was an American comics artist born on June 24, 1963, who passed away on August 12, 2007. Over a career stretching from the early 1990s onward, he built a devoted following through his work across multiple publishers, accumulating credits as artist, inker, and writer on more than two hundred issues.

Wieringo's professional output centered on some of the most recognizable characters in superhero comics. His runs on DC's The Flash and titles including Robin helped establish his reputation for expressive, kinetic illustration, while his extended work on Marvel's Spider-Man — across both Sensational and Friendly Neighborhood volumes — and on Fantastic Four cemented his place among the most distinctive superhero artists of his generation. His style balanced a cartoonist's warmth and fluidity with genuine dramatic weight. Beyond work-for-hire assignments, he co-created Tellos, a creator-owned fantasy series that demonstrated the fuller range of his storytelling imagination.

Wieringo's influence on the medium has been formally recognized since his passing. In 2017, the Baltimore Comic-Con established the Ringo Awards in his honor, presented annually to acknowledge outstanding achievement across the comics industry — a tribute that reflects how deeply his peers and fans valued both his artistry and his character.